Pea and Bacon Soup - Budget Batch Cook Recipe

Sweet peas and salty crispy bacon bits – delicious! This filling soup is packed with flavour and protein. It costs just 40p per portion so I make a big batch and freeze it for quick and easy lunches on busy weekdays.

Pea and Bacon Soup Ingredients

1kg Cooking Bacon £1.99
1lg Onions 80p
1800g Frozen Peas £1.98
Mint (Dried or Fresh)
A little bacon fat for frying

Total Cost = £4.77

Makes 12 servings = 40p per serving

This Pea and Bacon Soup recipe uses full packs of most of the ingredients. This means that there is absolutely zero food waste. No leftovers in the fridge to throw out later. No guilt. And no wasted money.

Look out for wonky or budget vegetables. They might be a bit misshapen or uneven but they are just as fresh and tasty as their premium counterparts. You won’t be able to tell the difference once they are cooked but you will notice the difference in your bank balance.

I’ve used mint grown in my garden that I dried last year. Fresh would have been fine too.

Food is mostly purchased from Aldi aside form the bacon which I get from Lidl. I buy it in bulk whenever I can get to a branch of Lidl and freeze it for recipes like this.

Food purchased from Aldi. Prices correct at time of publishing.

Cooking Equipment You Will Need to Make Pea and Bacon Soup

You do not need a lot of equipment to batch cook. You can get started with tools you probably already have in your kitchen.

To make Pea and Bacon Soup you will need:

Kitchen Knife
Chopping Board
Large Pan
Freezer Containers

There are some tools that will make batch cooking quicker and easier.

You could make this Pea and Bacon Soup without using a blender. You’d need to cook it for longer and mash up the peas with a large spoon or potato masher. I like my Pea and Bacon Soup blended smooth but it’s entirely up to you.

This Pea and Bacon Soup can be cooked in a slow cooker if you wish. You’d just throw all of the ingredients into the slow cooker and leave it on low for about 3 – 4 hours. You’d still need to cook the bacon separately to get it nice and crispy. So there isn’t actually any benefit to using a slow cooker, this Pea and Bacon Soup cooks pretty quickly on the hob.

Pea and Bacon Soup Recipe

This is a super easy recipe. Dice the onions and fry them in bacon fat. I use a huge stock pot so that I can just cook the soup in the same pan and save on washing up.

Then add the frozen peas.

You can add mint if you like – I love it so I added a generous handful of dried mint leaves.

Bring the pan to the boil and blend the soup to your liking.

Dice the bacon and fry it until it’s super crispy. I’m loving frying my bacon in my air fryer at the moment. It’s so easy and clean, you don’t need to watch it, just remember to shake it every 10 minutes or so. I think I cooked my bacon for about 40 minutes to get it nice and crispy.

Once you are happy with the consistency of the soup add the bacon and stir it in.

If you are serving this soup immediately it might be nice to serve the bacon on the side or on top of the soup. I’m batch cooking mine so I mix it in and portion the soup into tubs ready for the freezer.

Notes on Making Pea and Bacon Soup

I’ve started saving bacon fat for frying instead of paying for vegetable oil, the price of which has doubled!! I’m finding the saved fat is actually much tastier than vegetable oil as well as being free.

Whenever I fry any meat in my air fryer or in a frying pan I pour the hot fat into an old jam jar and keep it in the fridge for frying my next recipe. It solidifies just like lard and makes the best roast vegetables, potatoes and chips.

Click on the image below to see my full recipe for Air Fried Roast Potatoes.

Healthy Air Fried Roast Potatoes Recipe

How to Store Pea and Bacon Soup

Store it in an airtight container in the fridge for up to 3 days.

How to Freeze Pea and Bacon Soup

Portion your cooked Pea and Bacon Soup into freezer tubs.

These are the freezer tubs I use for most of my batch cook meals. They are a little better quality than some of the cheaper ones I’ve tried. I generally get about 5 years worth of use out of them.

Label the lids with a permanent marker. I’ve tried a few different ones but nothing beats the Sharpie brand markers. The marks easily wash away with a little pressure and a wet cloth.

Place the lids loosely on your tubs and leave them to cool.

Once your Pea and Bacon Soup has cooled down put the tubs into your fridge. Once they are chilled pop them in your freezer to freeze.

How to Defrost Pea and Bacon Soup

For best results (as they say) take your tub of Pea and Bacon Soup out of the freezer a day or two before you plan to eat it.

I like to plan my meals a few days in advance and choose from the defrosted meals on the day. That way there’s still some room for spontaneity.

But don’t worry if you forget, you can defrost your Pea and Bacon Soup in the microwave. Just pop it on defrost for about 10 minutes.

In a real pinch you could cook this Pea and Bacon Soup from frozen. Ease the frozen mixture out of the freezer tub and into a pan. Gently heat it on the hob until it’s piping hot. You will need to stir it pretty much constantly which is difficult with a solid frozen block. You’ll usually end up having to break it up in order to stop it burning.

How to Serve Pea and Bacon Soup

I love my soups served with a crusty roll. I get the part baked ones from the supermarket and sling them in the air fryer for 7 minutes while I heat my soup.

When money is tight I make do with sliced bread and butter. And when I want to loose some weight I skip the carbohydrate and just have the soup on it’s own. It’s still a filling lunch.

If I’m eating out on a cold day I boil some water and pour it into a soup flask. After my soup is piping hot I empty out the boiling water and replace it with my hot soup. I get the lid on quick and

I do hope that my pea and bacon soup has inspired you to have a go at batch cooking your own soups.

Follow me on your favourite social media channel for more budget recipes like this one.

More Batch Cook Soup Recipes

Batch Cook Cheese and Broccoli Soup Recipe

Beef and Vegetable Soup [Batch Cook Recipe]

Slow Cooker Pea and Ham Soup – Batch Cook Recipe

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A Note on Food Safety

Freezing and defrosting food really isn’t complicated. But it terrifies me how many people aren’t familiar with basic food hygiene so if you’re new to cooking from scratch and freezing please follow these safety guidlines.

The important things to remember are:

Wash your hands and anything else that has been in contact with raw meat.

Meals should last for about 3 days in the fridge.

Do not defrost your meals at room temperature.

Do not refreeze meals you have already defrosted.

Consume food before the use by date.

A Little Bit About Me . . .

Hey there I’m Bridie, a busy mum to two amazing humans, a spirited border collie puppy and a pair of sweet guinea pigs. We homestead in a cherished Edwardian terrace in not so sunny Lancashire, England.

When I’m not spending time with my children and menagerie, I’m usually to be found in my craft room creating and blogging or in the kitchen cooking up a big batch of something tasty. I’m always looking for thrifty hacks to save money on my crafts and recipes. Crafting doesn’t have to cost a fortune!

I have been batch cooking for about 30 years (yikes that makes me feel old!) I’m sharing all my batch cook recipes, in depth batch cooking tutorials and all my tips and tricks to help you slash your food bills.

Each week I cook up a big batch of a single meal. Most of it goes in the freezer, then it’s just defrost and reheat or sling it in the oven. Even on busy school nights my family get to enjoy healthy home cooked meals that my kids actually eat.

Each week I share a new recipe on my blog. Most of my meals cost less than £1 per portion.

I really hope that my ideas can help you to stretch your budget.

I’ve included links to my favourite retailers for the products I’ve used to make my crafts. Click on any of the product images and links for full details. If you decide to buy any of these products I may get a small percentage of what you spend. There’s no cost to you at all.

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